Volodymir Zelensky is struggling to resist a potentially humiliating peace deal proposed by U.S. officials just as the Ukrainian president faces growing domestic pressure to remove his most trusted aide in the war against Russia.
Zelensky received signals from the US that he should accept the agreement drawn up in consultation with Moscow, said a source familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Zelenski has talks in Kiev this Thursday (20) with US military officials led by Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll. The delegation, which has already met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, will examine ways to force Russia to end the fighting, according to people familiar with the matter.
The latest attempt by US President Donald Trump’s administration to revive negotiations involves a 28-point plan based on the Gaza ceasefire. It details known Russian demands for concessions that Kiev has repeatedly declared unacceptable and that have so far prevented any progress toward a ceasefire.
The proposal includes demands that Ukraine cede territory in the eastern Donbas region to the Kremlin, remove sanctions against Russia and suspend war crimes investigations, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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Ukraine would also have to accept limits on the size of its army, said the person, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. That would leave it vulnerable to any renewed offensive ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who endorsed a previous peace deal with Kiev over eastern Ukraine before launching the 2022 invasion.
European diplomats have expressed skepticism about any deal, noting that Putin has a history of appearing to accept proposals when under pressure. The Kremlin is trying to prevent US sanctions against Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, from taking effect this Friday (21), said sources familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity to speak freely.
Zelensky faces pressure from the United States to make concessions and end the war, as he also prepares to meet his party’s lawmakers on Thursday to try to calm public anger over a corruption scandal. Anti-corruption investigators have linked his former business partner to a scheme to embezzle up to $100 million, an investigation that has already forced the ouster of two government ministers.
Some in his party want Zelensky to replace chief of staff Andriy Yermak, his right-hand man who plays a direct role in decisions on high-level appointments and critical elements of Ukraine’s war strategy, according to a source familiar with the matter. The president will face a parliamentary crisis if he does not fire Yermak, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.
Yermak, who regularly accompanies Zelensky on high-risk international trips, has accumulated disproportionate influence in the administration. Zelensky hit back at criticism last year, describing Yermak as a “powerful manager”.
Ukraine’s two independent anti-corruption agencies last week released details of their 15-month investigation into alleged money laundering in the country’s energy sector. The scheme involved kickbacks from contractors building defenses to protect Ukrainian nuclear facilities from Russian air strikes, according to investigators.
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The agencies have previously unreleased recordings of alleged conspirators discussing different corruption schemes, and authorities in Kiev are eager to see who else might be implicated in the investigation.
The controversy has emerged as Ukrainians face long blackouts following intense Russian missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
In July, Zelensky tried to take control of anti-corruption agencies, before backing down in the face of the biggest street protests in Ukraine since the start of the war and condemnation from Kiev’s international allies.
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The president said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on November 13 that it fully supports the investigation. “The most important thing is the sentences for the guilty people,” he said. “The president of a country at war cannot have friends.”
The domestic political challenge comes as Ukrainian officials seek clarification on the plan to end the war promoted by Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff and Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Defense and Security Council, met with Witkoff earlier this week in Miami and was briefed on the plan, which appears to benefit Russia, said a person who requested anonymity because the matter is not public.
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Ukrainian and European officials do not yet know whether Trump supports the proposals and what will happen if Kiev rejects them, according to people familiar with the matter. Ukraine depends on U.S. intelligence support for American air and weapons defense, which is paid for primarily by Europeans.
European Union foreign ministers expressed alarm at the proposals during a meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
“For any plan to work, Ukrainians and Europeans need to be on board,” the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, told reporters.
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